Medical imaging techniques generally can be used to collect data and generate in-vivo visualization of anatomical areas of interest. One such example is intravascular imaging, where vascular structures and lumens may be imaged. For instance, intravascular imaging may be used to produce one or more images of the coronary artery lumen, coronary artery wall morphology, and devices, such as stents, at or near the coronary artery wall. Images generated using medical imaging techniques can be useful for diagnostic purposes, such as identifying diagnostically significant characteristics of a vessel.
However, generally information collected during medical imaging can include significant amounts of data, some of which may not be relevant to the purpose for which the imaging is being performed. Consequently, it may be useful to further analyze the data collected and/or image generated during medical imaging so as to simplify image interpretation and automate measurements of clinically useful parameters.
As one example, image segmentation may be used to simplify interpretation and measurement of key features of the image. Image segmentation can be used to partition an image, or set of images, into one or more regions of interest to facilitate the identification of relevant information in the image.